Mop



P 1944- s. P. VAUGHN 2,358,673

MOP

Filed Feb. 21, 1940 Patented Sept. 19, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEQT mor A Sidney P. Vaughn, Ackerman, Miss. Application February 21, 1940, Serial No. 320,220

7 Claims. (Cl. 15-244) (Granted under the m of March a, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This invention relates to cleaning devices and more especially tomops, and has for one of its objects to provide a mop which is not only of simple and durable construction, but which h an attractive and sanitary appearance;

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a mop which may be quickly and easily operated, and which is so designed as to be capable of thoroughly cleaning the corners of rooms or the like without injury to the surfaces adjacent to the surface being cleaned.

A further object is to provide novel means whereby a block of cellulose sponge may be quickly and easily detached from a mophead or a holding member.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a cleaning element for mops made out of cellulose sponge cut to such shape that it will present a maximum scrubbing surface to the surface being cleaned, and wherein the direction of stresses set up in the sponge in cleaning operations are so applied as to cause a minimum distortion in the sponge.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision in a cleaning element for mops, made out of cellulose sponge and having a cloth backing adhesively secured thereto, of reinforcing means to stiffen and strengthen the backing.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a mop of such shape that it may be quickly wrung by merely pressing straight down on the handle toward the mop head, thereby compressing the cellulose sponge cleaning element between the mop head and a flat surface.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be apparent from .the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 illustrates a front view of the mop. Fig. 2 illustrates a cross section on line A--A Fig. 1 looking toward the handle. Fig. 3 illustrates a back view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 illustrates a sectional view of a modified form of construction. Fig. 5 illustrates a plan view of the cellulose sponge cleaning element showing the cloth backing and the method of attachment. Fig. 6 illustrates a modified form of construction of the cellulose sponge cleaning element cut awayin part to show reinforcing member. Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 illustrates preferred method of cutting sponge.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, numeral l indicates a substantially oblong mop head in which is provided a socket 2 (indicated bydot terial, with cellulose acetate cement 6, or other suitable adhesive. Cellulose acetate cement is hard and still when dryand adds strength and stiffness to the canvas backing, which makes it possible to attach the block 4 of cellulose sponge" to the mop head in the manner illustrated in the drawing and fully described herein.

In order to strengthen the forward part of the cleaning element to prevent warping and to pro vide a strong means for attaching the cleaning element to the mop head, I provide a rod- 2| embedded in the cement between the sponge 8 and canvas backing 5 near and parallel to the forward edge of the cleaning element. A plurality of holes are formed in the canvas backing 5 and cellulose cement 6 to the rear of the rod 2| to receive a plurality of depending books I secured to the underside of the toe of the mop head I. The canvas backing 5 extends to the rear of the block of cellulose sponge to form a flap H to which is securely clamped a channel shaped bead Ill in which holes I2 are formed to receive hooks l3 extending downwardly from the ends of a spring bar clip l4 detachably supported at its center on a pin or hook l5 secured in the upper in cleaning operations. This form of constructionholds the block of "cellulose sponge" securely attached to the underside of the mop head during cleaning operations, yet the cleaning element may be readily detached for any purpose by releasing the spring clip ll from the pin l5 and detaching the cleaning element from the hooks 1.

In certain types of mops and cleaning devices it may be necessary to increase the strength and stiffness of the cleaning element backing as illustrated in Fig. 6. A stifi wire frame i6 is placed between the cellulose sponge" and canvas backing and embedded in the cement 6, as illustrated in Figs. 4 .and 6. Due to the hardness of cellulose cement when dry the wire frame is held securely in place. Two or more holes 9 are formed the front bar of the wire frame to receive hooks I secured to the underside of the toe of the mop head. In this construction the hooks bear against the front bar of the wire frame It. To secure the rear edge of the cleaning element to the mop head, holes I! are formed in the canvas backing and cement near the rear edge and forward of the rear bar of the wire frame to receive hooks i3 extending downwardly from the ends of the spring bar clip ll detachably supported at its center on a pin or hook ll secured in the upper rear edge of the mop head, as illustrated in Fig. 4. This form of construction holds also the cleaning element securely attached to the mop head, yet is such that the sponge or cleaning element may be quickly detached for any purpose.

The stiff wire frame may take many forms but "that illustrated in the drawing is preferred as it is more readily assembled in the backing: Instead of using the wire frame one or more bars may be used for increasing the longitudinal strength and stiffness of the backing. In some cleaning elements it may be desirable to combine the reinforcing bars with the beaded flap III and all such forms are contemplated as a part of this invention.

Cellulose spongeis a synthetic sponge. It is fairly tough and high absorbent. It is somewhat hard when dry, yet soft and pliable when wet. It expands when'it is wet and shrinks when dried out. It is not aflected by most household cleaning compounds and will stand boiling. Cleaning elements for mops should be boiled frequently to kill bacteria and fungus which causes rot. When combined with a backing that will stand boiling, it makes an ideal cleaning element for mops and the like.

Because of its high cost and peculiar properties, .cellulose sponge requires special means for attaching it to a mop head. No sponge should be wasted. In order to still further reduce costs, the sponge must be cut and formed intoa, special shape not heretofore found in mops. The shape illustrated in the drawing is the preferred form. It will be noted that the blockof sponge is cut in the shape of the frustumof a right-angled parallelepiped, in which the planes of two faces, if extended as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 4 and 8, form an acute angle B and in which the other two faces are parallel. The face is of the parallelepiped forms the front face of the cleaning element, and the face 20 parallel to face i8 forms the rear face of the cleaning element. The longer of the two faces that are acute to each other forms the scrubbing surface i8 of the cleaning element, and the shorter face forms the adhesive surface that is attached to the cloth backing of the cleaning element. While the above shape and form of sponge is preferred for the reasonsf hereinafter stated, it. will be understood that The preferred method of cutting the sponge into the desired shape without waste is to take an oblong block of cellulose sponge rectangular in cross section and cut it lengthwise on a diagonal line as illustrated by the dotted lines 13-13 in Fig. 8.

""After the canvas backing is'adhesively seminor changes may be made in the structural details without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that all such details be included within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and/or used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What I claim is:

1. A cleaning element for mops and the like,

- including a block 'of cellulose sponge, a cloth backing adhesively secured thereto, a reinforcing rod embedded in the adhesive between the cellulose sponge and the cloth backing near one edge of the cellulose sponge. a beaded flap formed in the opposite edge of the cloth backing,

and means embodied in the cloth backing adiacent the reinforcing rod and in the beaded flap for attaching the block of cellulose sponge to a holding member.

2. A cleaning element for mops and the like including an oblong block of sponge material having four sides comprising a, ,top side having a flexible backing adhesively secured thereto, a front and back side parallel with each other and at right angles to the said top side, a bottom I side forming an acute angle with the front side and an obtuse angle with the back side to obtain a scrubbing surface having a greater area than the top side, and means included in the flexible other forms in which the adhesive surface of the an acute angle with each other may be used and are to be considered as a part of this invention. By having the front face of the cleaning element thicker than the rear face and positioning the handle in the mop head substantially in a line parallel with the forward face of the mop cleaning element the toe edge of the sponge willextend well forward of the mop head in cleaning operations and will reach corners easily. With this form of construction there is less liability of tearing the sponge loose from its backing due to the even distribution of the stresses set up in the sponge in cleaning operations.

backing for quickly attaching and detaching the cleaning element to or from a holding member.

3. A cleaning element for mops and the like including an oblong block of sponge material having four sides comprising a top side having a flexible backing adhesively secured thereto, a front and back side parallel with each other and at right angles to the said top side, a bottom side forming an acute angle with the front side and an obtuse angle with the back side to obtain a scrubbing surface having a greater area than the top side, holes formed in the flexible backing inside of the front edge thereof and adapted to receive hook means for detachably securing the cleaning element to a holding member, and a beaded flap extending from the rear edge of the flexible backing, said beaded flap being provided with means for attaching it also to the aforesaid edge and a thinner rear edge in the cleaning ele-- ment, a cloth backing adhesively secured to one of the sides forming the acute angle and adia-' cent the underside of the head member, the opaauaeva posite side forming the scrubbing surface of the cleaning element, holes formed inside of and near the forward edge of the cloth backing and adapted to receive hooks extending from the toe of the head member, a beaded flap extending from the rear edge of the cloth backing, and yielding means adapted to detachably secure the beaded flap to the rear edge of the said head member.

5. A cleaning element for mops and the like, including an oblong block of sponge formed in the shape of a frustum of a right-angled parallelepiped in which the planes of two faces form an acute angle with each other, the smaller of said faces having a backing secured thereto and the larger of said faces acting as the scrubbing surface of said cleaning element.

6. In a mop, a head member, a handle secured thereto, a cleaning element secured to the underside of said head member and including an oblong block of sponge material having a flexible backing secured thereto adjacent said head member, a reenforcing rod embedded between the sponge material and the flexible backing near the front edge thereof, holes formed in the flexible backing adjacent the reenforcing rod to receive hook means connecting the reenforcing rod with said head member, and a beaded flap extending from the back edge of the flexible backing, and means for securing said beaded flap to the said head member.

7. In a mop, a head member, a handle secured thereto, a cleaning element secured to the underside of said head member and including an oblong block of sponge material having a flexible backing secured thereto adjacent said head member, a reenforcing rod embedded between the sponge material and the flexible backing near the front edge thereof, holes formed in the flexible backing adjacent the reenforcing rod to receive hooks depending from the head member and adapted to engage the reenforcing rod for detachably securing the cleaning element to the head member, and a beaded flap extending from the back edge of the flexible backing, and means for securing said beaded flap to the said head member.

SIDNEY P. VAUGHN.

Patent No. 2,358,673

SIDNEY The above entitled patent was provisions of the act of June 30, 1

Granted September 19, 1944 P. VAUGHN extended November 13, 1951, under the (l'ommiesioner of Patents.

950, for 1 yea;- and 331 days from the explratlon of the ongmal term thereof. 

